Simon Ove Christian Ogilvie Spies (born September 1, 1921; died April 16, 1984) was a wealthy businessman from Denmark. He is best known for starting the charter airline Spies Rejser and the airway company Conair of Scandinavia. He was also known for his showy lifestyle and having many romantic relationships. He was involved in arranging sexual services from young women, known as morgenbolledamer.
Biography
Simon Ove Christian Ogilvie Spies was born in 1921 and grew up in Helsingør, Denmark. His first business, a bicycle taxi service, did not succeed. Later, he moved to Austria, which was under German control at the time, and briefly joined the Nazi Party. This decision caused problems for the rest of his life. After working as a tour guide, Spies started a travel company called Spies Rejser in 1956. It became very successful. At first, the company arranged inexpensive bus and boat trips to Mallorca. In 1965, Spies purchased the failed airline Conair and began offering affordable package holiday flights to Denmark’s citizens.
Simon Spies was known for his unusual opinions and lively lifestyle. He was famous for employing young women, called "morgenbolledamer" (which translates to "morning fuck ladies" or "morning bun ladies" in English), at his private home. The word "bolle" in Danish can mean both "fuck" and "bun." In 2022, a Danish public broadcaster, DR, released a documentary series titled Spies og morgenbolledamerne (Spies and the Morning Bun Ladies). The series described how Spies treated the women based on interviews with former employees and friends. It claimed that Spies paid for sexual services from the women, most of whom were between 15 and 18 years old. If they refused to have sex with him or grew too old, he replaced them. The documentary also stated that Spies used physical violence against the women and paid them large amounts of money in exchange for allowing him to hurt them. However, the documentary faced strong criticism after an investigation revealed that the producers had paid some participants and gave one alcoholic participant vodka to act in the film. Some claims, such as Spies allegedly wanting to break the bones of young girls for payment, were not proven.
On May 11, 1983, Spies married 20-year-old Janni Brodersen. She inherited his companies after he died less than a year later on April 16, 1984. In 2013, a movie about his life titled Spies & Glistrup was released. The film was described by Anne-Marie Glistrup, daughter of one of Spies’ business partners, as "pure fiction."